Skunk Barf are a mid-eighties punk band introduced in the recent, not-at-all-embellished Weird Al biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. We first see the group when Al unsuccessfully auditions for them by playing a peppy, accordion-based version of the Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat.” Later, they perform at a club called Cobra Pit minutes before Al makes his live debut there (and seconds before the unruly mob of a crowd, instigated by Patton Oswalt in a choker, overruns the stage). This is the only time in the movie we hear the band play. And we only hear them play the final 14 seconds of “Bowling with the Devil,” a seeming homage to the Van Halen classic “Running with the Devil.” It is not what you might call “good.” Just ask Patton Oswalt.
The best thing about Skunk Barf may be its hilariously amateurish website, which ushers the spoof into the real world. The text on the site is dotted with bad grammar; a way-too-low-resolution photo on the About Us page is pixelated almost beyond recognition; and someone apparently forgot to replace the “band name” graphic in the site’s template with an actual band name. Even better, though: the Download page serves up two additional tracks ostensibly by the SoCal punks, including a catchy island music take on the eighties hit “Jenny (867-5309).” I’m not ashamed to say, I’ve kinda become a Skunk Barf fan.
Check out “Bowling with the Devil” below. Then wash it down with “Kimo (372-5806).”
love it — a movie to enjoy with Mr. Kipling? And, their website — think I now too will have to “validate parking.” RAY